Real Madrid have won the race to sign AIK forward Alexander Isak, according to reports.
According to Marca, the highly-rated Swedish youngster will sign for Real Madrid in the coming week on a 5-year contract. The report claims Madrid have been tracking Isak for a few months now, but that talks “intensified” in the last few days and an agreement has been reached between the two clubs for the transfer of Isak.
Real Madrid are currently under a one-window transfer ban imposed by FIFA that prevents them from registering any new players in January, but they will be allowed to conduct business as normal come the summer. This means that even if Isak signs, he is only likely to feature for Real in the 2017-18 campaign.
At 6″3, Isak is a pacy player who is adept technically, and thanks to his height and playing style the comparisons with his compatriot Zlatan Ibrahimovic have inevitably surfaced. Nevertheless, Isak has been in impressive form this season and it is his performances that have led to Real pushing to complete the deal.
Isak has scored 10 goals and picked up 1 assist in 24 matches with AIK – 5 of which have come as a substitute. Isak has also won 4 Man of the Match awards this season, with his performance against IFK Norrkoping being a particular highlight in his season so far.
Despite being just 20, Isak was the most influential player in that game with a near-perfect performance. He picked up 2 goals, 1 assists, was never dispossessed, completed 3 successful dribbles, took 4 shots – all of which were on target – and ended the game with a pass accuracy of 79%. The comparisons with Zlatan only grew louder after that game.
Chelsea were reportedly in the lead to sign Isak in November, with Antonio Conte said to be keen on the youngster. Despite this, nothing came to fruition and despite the reports of Chelsea’s interest not dying down, it seemed that they had taken a back seat in the race.
Reports of Manchester City’s interest also surfaced late in November, with Pep Guardiola said to have taken note of the youngster’s talents. Manchester City have been trying to snap up Europe’s best young talents as they look to build an academy that can rival the biggest clubs in the world, and Isak fits the profile.
Despite this, it seems that Real Madrid have finally won the race to sign the young Swede, if Marca is to be believed. This would not come as a surprise, given their history of being able to attract young talent and having Zinedine Zidane at the helm will only help matters.
